The Syrian authorities decided to begin the restoration of the medieval castle of Qalat-Salah-ad-Din in the province of Latakia, which the famous commander Salah ad-Din recaptured from the crusaders in the 12th century. This was announced on Tuesday, April 6, by Zuher Hasun, an employee of the Salah ad-Din Castle archaeological park.
The castle, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, sits on a ridge between two deep, wooded ravines. It is believed that the first fortifications were built here by the Phoenicians, then by the Byzantines, the crusaders gave it a majestic appearance.
Already in our time, armed groups of militants tried to seize the historical citadel as a dominant height. The terrorists approached the walls of the fortress by 500 meters, but they did not succeed in taking it.
“The Syrian government has decided to restore the castle of Salah ad-Din, and the director of the Office of Antiquity issued an order on the restoration of the fortress wall from the time of the crusaders. And besides, the city outside the castle needs to be rebuilt, ”Hasun said.
According to him, now excursions are again led to the castle, mainly schoolchildren from the surrounding cities of the province of Latakia. Sometimes these places are visited by tourists from abroad: China, Iran and Russia.
Hasun noted that Syrian archaeologists have been working in the castle in recent years.
“Last year, specialists from Hungary came. They were excavating another castle, Markaba, and dropped in here to draw up a plan for our castle, ”he added.
Earlier, on April 1, it was reported that the mechanism of the ancient clock on the Bab al-Faraj tower, which was built by the architect Charles Chartier in 1899, was restored in Syria.
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source https://pledgetimes.com/syria-decided-to-restore-the-medieval-castle-of-salah-ad-din/
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